


What Doesn't Kill You...

by TheFireWithin



Series: Decamber Challenge [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:47:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27833248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFireWithin/pseuds/TheFireWithin
Summary: Borusa has to give the hardest talk he's ever done.  How does one tell a child their parents are gone, forever?Part of Decamber-- Day 1: Family
Series: Decamber Challenge [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2110302
Kudos: 2





	What Doesn't Kill You...

"Ushas," Borusa swallowed, leaning back in worn leather chair. For a wild, brief moment, he considered swapping seats with the tiny child, allowing her his office chair and taking the wooden one for himself. He dismissed the idea with a shake of the head-- he just needed to get this over with, and a more comfortable chair would hardly help. 

Borusa looked at the girl across from him, words stuck in his throat. Ushas was tiny, even for her young age, her feet dangling a good few inches above the ground. Her attention was less on him and more on her nightmare of a stuffed rat--its teeth bared and bloody. She smiled at it, playing with its ears--twisting them this way and that, occasionally running her fingers along the teeth.

"Ushas," he tried again, giving the girl a nod of approval when she looked up, setting the rat on her lap. "I... Do you know what your parents do for a living?" *Did*, his mind chided him, but he pushed the thought away as Ushas spoke. 

"They travel a lot. And they have a lot of secrets? I think they work secret. With secrets, I mean."

Borusa nodded, forcing a hollow smile. "That's right. And... that kind of work is dangerous. Really dangerous. Ushas, dear, do you know the last place your parents went?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. Some planet, kinda far away, but not too far away. I'll get a toy or a book, not jewelry. As a suv'neer."

"Ushas, I... I'm so, so sorry to tell you this, but... there was an accident. Your parents won't be coming home."

She frowned, her brow furrowed. "Did they get in trouble? Am I gonna have to move there with them?"

Borusa took a shaky breath, lightly chiding himself for not speaking more plainly. She was just a child, after all-- which was what make this so goddamn hard. "No, dear. They won't be coming back. Ushas, I'm afraid your parents are dead. They... they were killed. They were very brave, but... they can't regenerate and come back from this. They're dead."

Ushas was silent for a long moment, her dark eyes boring a hole into him. When she finally spoke, her voice was small. 

"Can I see, please?"

"I- what?" Borusa blinked, caught off-guard. 

"If they were killed, they have case files, right? I want to see them, please."

Borusa tried to hide his horror at the idea of the small girl looking at the mutilated bodies of her parents. "I, ah, I'll have to check. It's still an active case, you see."

Ushas nodded, not breaking eye contact. "Can I-- May I go now? Please?"

"Just a few more things, dear. You'll be living with your cousins on holiday from now on, your room may change but you'll stay at the same estate. Fulorsta will be your primary caregiver. She has a daughter about your age, isn't that nice?"

"Yes, sir," Ushas said, nodding once. "Now may I go?"

"Just one more thing." Borusa handed her a golden locket. "A decent amount has been willed to you, but I managed to get this before things are finalized. Do you recognize it?"

Ushas nodded, reaching across the desk and taking it, her thumb running along the engravings-- her house name around an interlocking series of hearts. 

"It's- It was my mum's. There's a picture of me in one side and of her and Dad on the other. May I go now?"

Borusa nodded. "Yes, Ushas. But if you need-" he sighed as the girl bolted, burying his head in his hands. His hearts ached for the girl, and she was too wary of him to even show emotion. 

That night was the first of many he heard her sobs during his rounds. He didn't go in, allowing her to mourn however she chose- but he'd leave a mug of tea by her door each night. Ushas never said anything, but the empty mug always found its way to his office desk by morning.


End file.
